An Enigma and an Open Book
by BebopSamurai
Summary: 250 moments between a certain eccentric blonde and an oafish actor. JoeyxPhoebe. Written for the 50 Sentences comm on LJ. Ratings from G to PG13, implied sexuality.


An Enigma and an Open Book

Set 1 of 5

Joey/Phoebe, ratings of G to PG-13

#01 - Motion

He grins to himself every time Phoebe jumps in surprise at the buzzing that greets her failed attempt to remove the 'water in the knee' during a heated game of Operation, yet for all Joey's smirking he fares, if possible, even worse.

#02 - Cool

Phoebe has to fight the urge to laugh aloud whenever Joey's 'ladykiller' grin falls flat; she knows that for all his swagger he's pretty much just lucky when it comes to women.

#03 - Young

Joey wondered, in a rare moment of contemplation, if his attraction to Phoebe's childlike enthusiasm for everything made him a phedophile.

#04 - Last

"...After Ross and Rachael get divorced again," the blonde foretold seriously, "but not before Monica and Chandler's fifth girl."

#05 - Wrong

It bothered Joey that Phoebe seemed to share Rachael's carelessness as far as his beloved sandwiches were concerned, but he wasn't so distraught about it that he was willing to invoke her wrath by berating her.

#06 - Gentle

Granted, Phoebe does have a hell of a temper, but somehow for Joey it's worth enduring to know that she also has a sugary-sweet side to balance it out.

#07 - One

Part of him had always wanted Phoebe and yet he'd never done anything; she seemed like such a class apart from all the other women the actor had been with that he didn't want to risk their relationship by sleeping with her.

#08 - Thousand

"Oh yeah, I've lived that many," Phoebe said with a nod in response to Joey's look of incredulity, "...but the worst was when I was a cockroach living in the kitchen of a Burger King-- some dumb bastard cooked me into a Whopper, for God's sake!"

#09 - King

It surprised Phoebe, upon looking back, that of all the people she'd known, Joey was by far the best man in her life.

#10 - Learn As it turned out, there were still things he didn't know about Phoebe-- that ended up drawing him closer than he had thought he would be.

#11 - Blur

Sometimes Phoebe seems like she's so many things at once that he can never figure out quite who she is, while Joey is so open that on occasion she can accurately predict exactly what he'll do, and yet somehow it works for both of them.

#12 - Wait

Phoebe turned at the sound of her friend's voice, only to find that instead of offering her a few words of comfort or an attempt to cheer her up, he pulled her close and kissed her.

#13 - Change

She smiled just a bit uncomfortably as Joey held her gaze; the blonde could feel something different in her best friend at this moment but for the life of her couldn't put her finger on it.

#14 - Command

For all the women that he tosses around and doesn't call back, Joey finds it odd that he can never bring himself to dissent whenever Phoebe asks anything of him.

#15 - Hold

Phoebe would never just bawl like a child when she was really unhappy, yet Joey never hesitates to offer her a place to pour out her troubles.

#16 - Need

Phoebe wants a family and children and someone to be by her side forever, and though Joey doesn't feel strongly about any of those things he's nonetheless inclined to try.

#17 - Vision

Even the seasoned romancer had to take a moment to recover from the sight of Phoebe in a very flattering dress; all she does in response is send him a rather devilish grin of her own.

#18 - Attention

Chandler turned to his former roommate in an attempt to make a witty quip regarding Phoebe's new song, only to smile guiltily when Joey gave him a look that made him regret his own sense of humor.

#19 - Soul

Despite his skepticism, Joey is willing to consider the possibility of an afterlife; it strikes him as terribly unfair that someone like Phoebe could just puff out of existence when her time is up.

#20 - Picture

Other than her wedding photos, there isn't a single picture that the six of them have where Phoebe isn't smiling just a little bit brighter when she's near Joey.

#21 - Fool

It comforts Phoebe that no matter how down she gets Joey will be there to make her laugh again, whether he means to or not.

#22 - Mad

She's adorable when she's angry; Joey doesn't dare risk telling Phoebe this during such an instance, however.

#23 - Child

Though he'd proposed partly out of a rare sense of chivalry, the fact was that if Phoebe really was pregnant he couldn't imagine a much better woman to be a husband and father to.

#24 - Now

Too often Joey feels his (limited) thoughts wander when he's with a woman; he's startled to find that with Phoebe, the only thing he's thinking about is Phoebe.

#25 - Shadow

Like his relationship with Chandler, Joey and Phoebe had been inseparable for ages, but when Phoebe got married it somehow stung at him a little more.

#26 - Goodbye

She spared Joey the slightest of smiles as she walked up the altar, a silent farewell and 'thank you' to the best friend she'd ever have.

#27 - Hide

They've become well-practiced at burying their real feelings under layers of light-hearted flirting and constantly dating random people; Joey's reluctant to be with someone he cares so much for, while Phoebe wonders if she could stand to be hurt by him if he didn't want to love her forever.

#28 - Fortune

Phoebe supposed, as Joey gave her a genuine smile, that even tea leaves weren't entirely accurate sometimes.

#29 - Safe

It hurt to hear Joey say that he'd never had a crush on her but it was better than telling him the truth; she wasn't sure of how even he'd respond if she ever came forward with her feelings.

#30 - Ghost

"Oh, don't worry," Phoebe said with a grin, "...you'd be first on MY haunting list when I cross over again-- if I don't get reincarnated first."

#31 - Book

"...Why aren't there any pictures in here?" Joey pondered aloud as he flipped through the Christmas present Phoebe had given him; since it was the season of goodwill, the blonde decided to ignore the question.

#32 - Eye

Hers sparkle in a way that, Joey realizes, he's never noticed in another woman before.

#33 - Never

It had been only a one-time, no-strings-attached kind of fling, and yet for the longest time Joey is unable to avoid comparing his dates to the eccentric blonde.

#34 - Sing

No matter how many people are listening to her twang away on her guitar in the Central Perk, Phoebe always feels it's a bit more special whenever Joey's in the audience.

#35 - Sudden

She keeps him on his toes constantly; it boggles him how quickly she can go back and forth between a million different things that call for her attention.

#36 - Stop

As he pulled his lips from hers, he had the strongest desire to continue, especially when Phoebe flashed that slow smile of hers at him.

#37 - Time

"Dates will come and go," Phoebe scolded her friend over their missed dinner, "...but THIS is forever!"

#38 - Wash

Sometimes they get so caught up in whatever they happen to be doing together that dates are forgotten and phones are ignored; the other's presence gives them both a feeling that the world outside is considerably less than important.

#39 - Torn

"Don't worry about it," Phoebe assures Joey breathlessly as she tosses aside her now ruined blouse; "...I can always swipe another one."

#40 - History

Joey would wonder, years after Phoebe's wedding-- with all the friendship and flirting and trust they had in each other-- why nothing had ever happened between them.

#41 - Power

Phoebe's almost always the dominant one in the friendship; it's one of the few instances where Joey will allow a woman to drag HIM along.

#42 - Bother

Her quirks and oddities don't trouble him, even though he's ignored other women for far less.

#43 - God

He knew Phoebe was a spiritual person, but he hadn't expected her to pray during sex-- and so loudly, too.

#44 - Wall

Joey feels as though no matter what, she's one of the few people he can talk to about anything-- they're open with each other in a way that few families are capable of being.

#45 - Naked

He tried to look away from the unclothed form of Phoebe sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling enticingly at him, only to find that his eyes were less willing to obey him than normal.

#46 - Drive

Joey sometimes hints (without any subtlety) to Phoebe that they should take another road trip in her old cab; he promises, despite her skeptical looks, that he'll be better company than he was on the way back from Vegas.

#47 - Harm

"If you ever hurt her," the actor declared as Mike prepared to enter the church, doing his best to give Phoebe's future husband a deadly glare, "...I'm gonna make you pay."

#48 - Precious

Phoebe treasures her relationship with Joey; while he is undoubtedly a buffoon he's also the sweetest buffoon she's ever met.

#49 - Hunger

Joey is starving by the time he and Phoebe finally leave the vegetarian restaurant, but her grateful smile makes him decide to hold off on complaints for the time being.

#50 - Believe

He knew that now there wasn't much of a chance he could ever be with her now, but even so he could still hope.


End file.
